Oh My Aching Bones

Well, it’s summertime in Michigan  and we are here in Cadillac as new homeowners…once again. Y’all have to remember, we haven’t had these kinds of responsibilities for about 7 years. No grass to cut, no flower beds to tend to, no major remodels to do, etc, etc, etc! You got the idea and you now know what we have been up to.

First things first, and that was to get the house to a point that we felt comfortable to move into. It was not a “move in ready” house but it has such great potentials. After a major cleaning and an almost full redo of our bedroom, (thank goodness my son is a builder, lives close and had some time to help us) it was time to make the move. Our life as we knew it was turned upside down. The days of doing whatever we wanted  and whenever we wanted were gone. We now had responsibilities and a “honey do” list a mile long. As we started checking things off our list it usually meant going to the store, sometimes multiple times in a day, if not for supplies then for tools that we no longer owned. Slowly, but surely, we are making progress. So far we have completed our bedroom and living room. We took time off from hammering, painting and shopping, to tend to a very sad looking yard. We had 6 trees removed (5 of them were about 80’ pine trees) and an almost dead, ugly maple tree (Stumps removed too.)  Every day we were outdoors while the weather was still on the cooler side, come evening we could hardly move. We are definitely too old for all this manual labor stuff but we are managing quite well, all things considered.

                                                               Trees being removed

Bedroom

                                                                         Living Room

With the warm summer weather here, we have limitations on how long we can work outdoors and what we can do while out there. Once again, we found ourselves revisiting the hardware store replenishing everything we left behind when we sold  our house to travel, including landscaping utensils and flowers. My dear friend Carol was so kind to split some of her beautiful plants and give them to us. We found an acceptable place for them to call home until I could get the flowerbeds worked and ready. Slowly, they made their way to a more permanent place to live, and, I’m happy to say they are doing quite well. There is so much more to do….what doesn’t get done this year, there is always next year.

All work and no play makes for a boring life. We have made trips to East Jordan to see my sister, a trip to Lewiston and Mio to see my step-daughter who has an amazing thrift store and then to see long time friends of Robs. We have made several trips downstate, the last to attend lunch with schoolmates from many, many years ago. I can’t forget to mention my trip to see my grandkids and great granddaughter, who is now 4 months old and has captured my heart.

                                                   

Today is officially the first day of summer with a promise of many more days of beautiful summer weather and lots of opportunities to be outdoors.  I know what we will be doing many of those days, what will you be doing? Going to the beach? Or maybe going camping and hiking? Or staying home and working on your own “honey do” list? Whatever it is, make every effort to enjoy the great outdoors, no matter where you are or what you’re doing. While out there, be sure to look up, it’s amazing out there.

The End of One Journey and the Beginning of a New One

This is a little late but now feel like sharing. We traveled full time for 7 wonderful years in our RV….Great memories, unexpected adventures, made many new friends and tried to be where the sun was, which didn’t always happen. We know life is full of surprises as we have been on the receiving end of many.  But we were not prepared for the events that lead up to our present circumstances. As many of you know, we were in an accident prior to Christmas this year which basically ended our “Fulltime” status of traveling. When our accident happened it was beyond devastating to us. There were so many more miles to travel, more friends to meet, and mountains to climb! Even though we periodically talked about finding someplace to park the RV for times when we needed to be stationary for a while, we didn’t plan on it ending like this. WE WERE TRULY HOMELESS! An RV that has been totaled and no place to call home. Now what do we do? During the many moments of uncertainty I could hear a voice, feel a presence, telling me that this could be the time to reconsider our plans for the future. A voice that we succumbed to. I truly believe angels walk among us.  Because we found ours. Kevin and Peg Anderson (Sara’s Dad and wife) were in the south, enjoying the much sought after sunshine, heard about our dilemma, and graciously offered their home in Michigan to us, for the time we needed to find a place of our own. Now you tell me God didn’t have a plan for us! Thank you from the bottom of hearts Kevin and Peg.

Fast forward some months….we are starting to feel more settled in our home and realizing how great it is to be “home”,  be with our kids and families, visits from our friends and the joy of spending time with our grandkids…and now, great grandkids. Our travel days are not over but it will be for shorter periods of time with destinations unknown.  Sometimes our brains actually rule over our hearts and help us make decisions we may not make listening to our hearts! Such as in this case. We have had some pretty awesome moments since coming back home with more in the immediate future. My sweet and loving daughter, Janis and husband Trent, welcomed us into their home shortly after we made it back to Michigan. It felt so good to be in their presence again. They always have a way of making us feel special. It was just what we needed. Their warm hospitality helped put us at ease. And while there, we got to see our handsome grandson, Cody, if only for a short time, who is busy studying getting ready for college graduation.  We were near by when our beautiful granddaughter, Makayla and Ryan, gave birth to their first child and we were able to meet Maren Mae shortly after. What a true blessing. We found a house rather quickly, thanks to our realtor extraordinaire daughter-in-law, Sara, and getting it closed in a very short time.  Getting to see and spend time with my youngest granddaughter Grace makes my heart sing and swell with pride. And now she is an adult living a life filled with adult obligations and spending much of her free time with her “love”.  How can that be!? Where did the time go? 

Maren Mae

                  

   The new perfect family

We made a trip downstate to see Rob’s sons and families. It always a funtime when we are with them. The trip was made extra special by attending the wedding shower of our granddaughter Julia and groom-to-be, Larry. Time has moved quickly as we will be attending the much anticipated wedding in 2 weeks. How exciting. But the excitement doesn’t end there. Also in the same time frame Malloy and Dan, Robs 1st granddaughter, will be giving birth to the first great grandchild. Boy? Girl? Only time will tell. While down for the visit we were able to see all the grandkids too. It has become very difficult to get them all together now that they are all busy adults with jobs and obligations.

We were here to help celebrate the 1st birthday for our great grandson, Ryder John, and spend time with his ever smiling and adorable sister, Raegan and their Mom and Dad, Abby and Chad. And of course, also helping celebrate were our other adorable and fast growing grandsons, Czerney and Leland, with Mom and Dad, Marley and Austen.We have missed a lot in all their busy lives.

                                                              The birthday boy.

                                                   Great Gpa and Raegan  coloring

                                                   Looks like the boys want to help.

Now let me not forget my son Jason, who has been right by our side from the onset of this fiasco. He flew to FL to help us pack up our motorhome, he then drove the Uhaul home to Michigan and then helped us unpack everything into a storage unit. After finding a house, he has been here helping us through some rough times as we remodel. He is doing all this while fulfilling his own obligations (which are many) as a builder, husband, father and grandfather. I don’t know what we would do without his help. We were invited over for Easter to spend time with his family and dinner.  As usual, it was an amazing meal that he prepared for all of us (17 to be exact). It was so very good, and then there was dessert! Wow. It was absolutely delicious; carrot cake made from scratch! My very favorite cake. He also made another dish that looked, and was I was told, tasted equally as good. This family is lucky to have their own personal chef! Thank you Jason for all that you do for us and for sharing your talents with us. We love you all so deeply and are so grateful for you.

This weekend we will be making a trip to Kalamazoo so I can attend a tea at the church my daughters family attends. Janis will be taking part in the preparation and presentation. My granddaughter and great granddaughter will also be there so you all know it will be a great time for me.

What does the future hold for us? Lots of work on the house and yard. Something we haven’t done in a long time. But first we must buy before we can use! We are at peace with life again and are blessed to be with loved ones and be in good health…we won’t talk about the new aches and pains we have from using muscles we haven’t used in a long time though. All in all, life is good.

As a reminder though let’s be thankful for where we are, and what we have.

Spring is here. Get out out and smell the fresh air, listen to the sounds of nature and don’t forget to look up, it’s amazing out there!